Those of you who follow my blog know that my close friend Bernie Berlin runs A Place to Bark animal rescue. She runs this rescue all by herself with a little help from just a couple faithful volunteers.

Animal Planet is having a Hero of the Year contest, the winner will receive $10k which could go a long way to helping Bernie's animal rescue. So I thought if we could get as many people as possible to nominate her, she might have a chance!

You'll also need a 250 word or under write up about Bernie, I am including mine below so that way you can use it as reference. Please write it in your own words or it could disqualify her.

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Bernie Berlin is a hero to all the unwanted and uncared for animals in this world. She works tirelessly out of her own pocket to save every creature she can while educating the public about animal care, spaying, and the plight of rescue animals through her blog: http://aplacetobark.blogspot.com/.

Bernie has been running her non-profit grass roots animal rescue, called A Place to Bark for the last 9 years and has found "forever homes" for over 500 dogs and cats last year alone! Estimated total number of furry lives saved since Bernie started her rescue is at 1,300. She has been profiled twice by WITI FOX News in Milwaukee.

Once a month, she makes a 16 hour one way drive from her shelter with a van full of death-row puppies to Humane Societies in Wisconsin and Chicago, where the puppies will quickly find homes in the more urban areas.

She works closely with local animal control volunteers to help them learn proper health care to avoid diseases like Parvo, Mange and parasite infestations etc. She has worked with the ASPCA during puppy mill raids and currently has over 40 puppies at her shelter from a recent raid in Tennessee.

If Bernie were to win Hero of the Year, it would be a tremendous help to her rescue and in turn she would be better able to save countless cats and dogs from a needless death.------------------------------